Very politely, my guests let it slip that they were hot that night! I could hardly believe it. Our family is still tucked under our All Season's Duvets, and despite the fact that the weather is getting slightly better, I still have no desire yet to put the Summer Goose Duvet away and sleep under only the Autumn Duvet.

This got me thinking how different we all are. My cousins would probably have preferred to sleep under the Autumn duvet in this time of late winter. Yet my family, with all four members sleeping on one double bed, (aged 45, 40, 4 and 2) – we still don't generate enough heat to make sleeping under an All Seasons Duvet anything but pleasant at this time of the year.

What can I conclude? My cousins are more warm blooded than we are?

Fortunately, with an All Seasons duvet you can choose any one of 3 combinations to keep you comfortable all year round. If you are hot blooded like my cousins, you will make more use of the Autumn duvet, and only use the All Seasons for the coldest times in winter. You will also switch to the Summer, long before my family would.

Caring for your Goose Down Duvet tip of the week: Make your bed up every morning as if your room is in a top end Guest Lodge. Enjoy smoothing out the duvet to fit perfectly onto your bed. Fluff out the pillows and place them neatly next to the headrest. You have bought top quality – take a few minutes to treasure this lifetime purchase as you make your bed beautiful.

Friday, July 23, 2010

My children are now 4 and 2 years old. Since the birth of my first child, I think I have tried every sleeping behavior adaption method that could be found on the internet as well as in parenting books.

My child was just not an easy sleeper.

Yes! He is probably highly strung like his mother is. (I used to hate that word when my mother used it on me when I was little, but I have walked a long path around through neurotic, emotional and over-sensitive, and I have come back around to preferring the label "highly strung" if I am going to be boxed at all. At least it has something musical about it!).

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that I tried dummies, teddies, pick up put down, rocking to sleep, leaving to scream, Ferber-ising and countless other methods with my first child. With my second child I gave up trying and had her in bed with us for most of her first two years. Ironically enough, she is the better sleeper of the two now.

Four years later, I still don't sleep alone with my husband. On most nights I end up in one of the children's beds, and at some stage in the night the other one joins us. If this does not happen, then our son at least gets into bed with both of us. And as we cuddle up together under our duvets, after having played Red Indians all afternoon, I am grateful that none of those methods worked.

Early stages of childhood feel like they are going to go on forever. Now I know that these cuddling close times are going to end, and that I had better hold on to them while they are here!

How do you sleep best? We would love to hear your comments, (and to give you any advice you may need about what duvet or pillow to choose).

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Whenever the winter solstice comes around I always get confused. Things are supposed to start cheering up now, aren't they?

But the reality is that although the days start getting longer from now on, and the nights shorter, it does not mean that the weather gets warmer yet! Temperature-wise, we are only entering the depths of the cold winter months. Where we are in the north of the country, I have only just moved the heater from the barn to the office, and we have only been using it on a daily basis for about a week. We have weeks to go of chewing up Eskom resources before we can pack it away again.

We normally sleep under our All Seasons down duvets for at least 4 months of the year, and I only clipped the Summer and Autumn ones together at the beginning of June. That means, 4 months still to go, that I will only unclip the Summer ones at the end of September!

On that note, I realize what a fantastic buy these All Seasons duvets have been for us. I brush the children's teeth while they are in the bath, and then they both literally run (without slippers, because why fight over 30 metres, even if it is 30 metres of cold red oxide floors?), through the playroom, the kitchen, the lounge and then leap into their beds. No matter how cold the icy winds blow up against that side of the house from the south, I know that they will be tucked up and warm all through the night.

And that is how we get through winter: no underfloor heating, one heater for the office, one old wood fire stove in the kitchen that warms the living areas of the house, and most importantly, we all have All Season's down duvets.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Some musings on "Duvet days" for Gooses and Ganders (And I use the word Goose here for its Cape Town meaning… a chick, a cherrie, a sweetheart).

Two months ago, my Aunt in Gauteng informed me that when she woke at the crack of dawn, she stuck her nose out of the window and could smell winter approaching. My aunt has a sixth sense. She picked this up long before there was really a hint of it in the air. Okay, so maybe she was just looking at the calendar, but the point is that ahead of the rest of us, she knew it was time to pack away her summer down duvets and get the winter one out of the cupboard.

And now, eight weeks later, winter has definitely arrived again in our lovely and so ill equipped for the cold country, South Africa. It is sweeping cold rain across the Southern part of the country, and starting to chill the bones of those of us living further north. And we are forced to ask, why no central heating? It's cold enough to warrant it! The problem lies in our inability to remember pain… you only REALLY freeze in Cape Town for about 6 weeks of the year, and in that time you wear wooly hats and socks to bed. Then a month or two later the weather perks up and you forget how many sick days you filled in for work so that you could stay at home in bed during that period.

Oh yes, along with winter, come Duvet Days. There is nothing better than snuggling up under a goose down duvet, with an extra soft pillow, and reading the latest publication of your favourite magazine. Duvet Days are synonymous with, hot chocolate, coffee, good books, good other stuff, gratefulness for the invention of the laptop which enables one to work in bed, and 2 for the price of one videos.

While you think about what we had before we had Duvet Days (Blanket days just has no ring to it), we invite you to share with us and our readers, any other ideas you may have for how to spend a good winter morning tucked up under your down duvets…(And please bear in mind, that any comments that are not good and clean and fresh will not be approved for publication!)

Friday, October 24, 2008

To sleep under a goose down duvet feels like sleeping under a warm puffy cloud! Luxuriously lightweight and fluffy, goose down is nature's best insulator. Goose down filled duvets warm up quickly by trapping pockets of air. Goose down regulates your body temperature much better than any synthetic because of its unique ability to breathe. Compared to duck down duvets, a goose down duvet is much lighter and more durable.

To touch, feel and sleep on a goose down pillow is something everybody should experience! As most physiotherapists would tell you, feather and down pillows are also preferable to synthetics as they mould better to the shape of the neck. We have a wide selection of goose pillows, ranging from a very soft goose down pillow to a very firm goose feather pillow to suit your individual needs.

We are proud to bring to you an extensive range of goose down duvets and goose down pillows of the highest quality. Our down duvets & pillows are natural, hypo-allergenic,machine washable and durable. Goose down bedding will make your bedroom a sanctuary and your house, a home.